The Past Unburied
by icediamond
Summary: YnM/Harry Potter crossover. Watari's past returns to haunt him as Voldemort seeks to gain power in Japan. Chapter 4 Uploaded.
1. Beginnings

The Past Unburied  
by icediamond  
  
Chapter 1   
  
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Disclaimer: Neither Yami no Matsuei nor Harry Potter belong to me. If they did, I'd be way too rich to bother writing fanfiction. As it is, I'm broke from completing my Christmas shopping, so please don't sue me.  
  
Warnings: Yaoi. Slash. M/m pairings, whatever you want to call them. Het pairing (but it's a cool, screwed up one, I promise!). Generous adjustment of universes to match. Hints of NCS (remembered) later on in the story.  
  
Notes: I'd think I made this obvious but, just in case... "speech" 'thought'   
The pairings are going to be: Tatsumi/Watari, Tsuzuki/Hisoka, and Lucius/Narcissa. Tsuzuki and Hisoka are definitely secondary characters in this fic though. I figure they have enough fanfics about them, while poor Tatsumi and Watari barely have any. For those of you wondering about the timeline, this takes place in 1999. A year after the manga for YnM, four years after Voldie's resurrection for HP.   
  
A note on the crossover: HP doesn't really show up in the first chapter, and the Trio will never show up in the story at all. *waves Slytherin flag* This is more a take a few elements and a few, mostly minor, characters from HP. So, if you're looking for a story where Harry meets Hisoka, and they realize how much they have in common (locked up in small enclosed areas by their families during their childhood, strange powers that made their families hate them, powerful psychopath after them, some sort of link to said psychopath, etc.), as far as I'm aware, it doesn't exist. Sorry. Interesting concept, though...  
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~~~~~~  
Watari  
~~~~~~  
  
BOOM!  
  
Watari carefully picked himself up off the floor, checking himself for injuries. "Too much sulfur..." he muttered to himself.   
  
Having concluded his investigation for injuries, and finding none, he proceeded to brush the soot off his shoulders. He started to note down the ramifications of his latest experiment, when he felt 003 tug at a loose strand of golden hair.  
  
"What is it?" he asked 003, looking up where he was diligently taking notes. A clock managed to catch his gaze for a moment, and Watari suddenly realised. "I'm late!" He was supposed to be in a staff meeting ten mintues ago. "Man, oh man..." he muttered, quickly walking towards the meeting room.   
  
Tatsumi greeted him at the door with a raised eyebrow. "You're late," he said flatly.  
  
"Sorry, sorry!" replied Watari, waving his hands around in the air as though their movements could somehow magically get Tatsumi off his back. "My experiment blew up, and I sorta lost track of time." As Tatsumi's eyebrow arched still further, Watari realized his mistake. "Don't worry! I managed to prevent any property damage this time!"  
  
Tatsumi sighed, apparently resigned. "Well, that's something, I suppose."   
  
Fortunately, Watari was spared from further interrogation by Hisoka dragging Puppy-Tsuzuki into the room. "Sorry we're late," Hisoka said, glaring at Tsuzuki, who looked pitifully back at him. "Wakaba-san brought sweets to the office."  
  
"I see," said Tatsumi. "Thank you for your efforts in bringing him, Kurosaki-kun."  
  
Watari could almost see Tatsumi's thought processes as he decided not to scold Tsuzuki, and suppressed a snicker. 'Tsuzuki really is way too good with those puppy eyes of his,' he thought silently. 'I wonder if he could teach me?' His thoughts began to drift to more than slightly naughty ways he could apply that knowledge on the hapless secretary. While Watari knew that he'd never be able to have a serious relationship with Tatsumi, only a blind man would deny that Tatsumi was HOT.  
  
With that happy thought in mind, Watari started slightly as Konoe, who was already seated at the head of the table, coughed to draw their attention. "There's a new case in Kyoto that I'm going to need to assign all four of you on," he said.  
  
Watari's eyes widened, safely hidden behind their concealing glasses. That was unusual. While he had been paired up with Hisoka and Tsuzuki once or twice before, very few cases needed four separate Shinigami assigned to them.   
  
"Certain key people have been dying mysteriously in Kyoto." Konoe flicked a switch, and a slide show bagan to show on the far wall. "As you can see, there are no visible injuries. Upon being autopsied, it is univerally found that there is no apparent reason for them to have died. By default, they are being categorised as heart attacks, but we have reason to believe that there is something far more sinister going on behind this."  
  
The slide changed to show a new figure. This... man, for lack of a better term, was corpse-white, his non-existent lips and triangular face reminding the viewer irresistably of an albino snake. His flat red eyes completed the impression. Cold and deadly, this was the face of a man who would wait for decades for his prey to make a single misstep, and then strike with unerring speed and accuracy.   
  
Watari suppressed a gasp, but couldn't stop the blood from draining from his face. He recognised that man.  
  
"His name is Lord Voldemort. He is an English wizard who was rapidly gaining in power in England and elsewhere seventeen years ago, when he suddenly disappeared, apparently dead. However, four years ago, he reappeared. So far, he seems to have been concentrating on regaining his lost power in England. However, we now suspect that he is attempting to branch into Japan, as he attempted twice before his first defeat" - here Watari winced almost imperceptibly - "as these newest deaths match his modus operandi."  
  
Tatsumi asked calmly, "Could you please elaborate on what precisely his modus operandi is?"  
  
"As far as I can. Unfortunately, we don't have a great deal of information on him. However, English magic differs greatly from ours. They use wands with Latin-derived incantations to perform magic. These deaths have been caused by the spell Avada Kedavra. While it is unlikely it can harm a shinigami, the effects of this spell on us are completely unknown. On a mortal, it results in an instantaneous and painless death."  
  
"Lord Voldemort tends to gain power using terrorist tactics. He sends in his men to kill key figures to create the maximum amount of disorder. This creates a power vacuum, during which he may act as he pleases. It is highly unlikely that he is here in person for these killings. Most likely, he has sent an underling to test the waters, so to speak. Your job is to prevent this underling from succeeding, hopefully in such a manner that Lord Voldemort will lose interest. Do you understand?"  
  
The four shinigami all nodded.   
  
"Good. You will be starting the case tomorrow." At the tone of dismissal they heard in his voice, they all began to exit the room to prepare for their stay on Earth. Konoe's voice interrupted Watari as he was about to leave. "Oh, Watari-san, could you stay for a second? I want to talk to you alone."  
  
Watari gave him a cheerful grin to mask his unease, and sat back down. "Ok!" he said, attempting to regain his usual verve. As the others left the room, Konoe took a deep breath.   
  
"Are you going to be capable of handling this case?" he asked Watari. Watari could see the worry in his eyes, and was momentarily irritated at himself for not hiding his reactions better. 'Oh, like he wasn't going to worry about you anyways. It's his job to know the basics of our lives before we became shinigami, and he's hardly going to miss something as obvious as this,' he scolded himself mentally.  
  
"After all, much of this is striking rather close to home, and you generally aren't really a field worker anyways..." Konoe continued.  
  
Watari smiled. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. Besides, I'd rather they have someone with them who knows something about their opponent."  
  
"Are you going to tell them?" Konoe asked. Watari could tell that he was honestly curious as to the answer.  
  
"Not if I can avoid it. Of course, I'm not sure how feasible that is, but I figure it's worth a shot," said Watari. He carefully kept his doubts from his eyes.  
  
"I see..." Konoe seemed to be thinking of saying something else, but changed his mind. "Well, good luck! And if you happen to be able to obtain any Chocolate Frogs..."  
  
Watari grinned. "I'll be sure to get some for you."  
  
  
~~~~~~  
Tatsumi  
~~~~~~  
  
  
Tatsumi walked slowly out of the meeting room, frowning. He turned as he heard someone calling his name and was presented with the frowning face of the youngest shinigami.  
  
"Yes, Kurosaki-kun?" he asked.   
  
"Do you have any idea what was wrong with Watari-san?" asked Hisoka. "He seemed to be acting rather... odd... during the meeting and his emotions were far stronger than what I would have expected."  
  
"I was actually just considering that myself," Tatsumi responded. "Unfortunately, Watari-san is almost as good at concealing his emotions as Tsuzuki when he wants to." He paused for a moment. "I don't suppose you could tell me what precisely he was feeling during the meeting?"  
  
Hisoka looked doubtful for a moment, probably trying to decide if it was ethical to invade their friend's privacy like that, but eventually worry overcame propriety, and he responded, "Mostly worried and surprised. A bit sad and, while there was a bit of anger there, it stayed pretty much underneath all his other emotions."  
  
"I see. I would suggest that you and Tsuzuki-san keep a close eye on him this mission. I will do the same, of course."   
  
Hisoka nodded. "I'll go tell Tsuzuki."  
  
"Thank you," said Tatsumi. It was nice to leave managing Tsuzuki to someone else, though occasionally it made Tatsumi feel somewhat... nostalgic.  
  
As Hisoka left to find his absent-minded partner, Watari came out of the meeting room. While he looked to be back to his normal cheerful self, Tatsumi knew that the blonde scientist was upset.  
  
"Hello, Watari-san," said the secretary, matching his stride to Watari's.  
  
"Tatsumi! I've been meaning to talk to you. Would you mind giving me a strand of your hair?"  
  
Tatsumi blinked, momentarily disconcerted. "Why?"  
  
Watari nodded enthusiastically. "An experiment, of course! I've been working on a potion that would increase shinigami's healing speed to twice the current speed. However, in order to accomplish this, I need multiple samples from various Shinigami, in order to do some preliminary testing."  
  
At Tatsumi's side-long look, Watari grinned, obviously guessing his thoughts. "On a healing potion, since that affects our ability to heal, I want to make sure it at least won't interfere with anything important before finding test subjects."  
  
Tatsumi couldn't quite decide whether to be pleased at the unusual caution Watari was displaying, or irritated at his admission that he was going to drug his coworkers. Finally he sighed. "Just don't poison the coffee, okay?"  
  
Watari sighed. "Why does everyone always worry about me and the coffee?" At Tatsumi's pained look, he elabourated. "Well, nowadays, even if I'm just trying to get myself coffee, someone grabs me a cup, and escorts me away from the coffeepot. I'm not even allowed within ten feet of the coffepot!" Watari wailed.  
  
'Thank God,' thought Tatsumi. "Well, considering the last potion you made was an aphrodesiac..."  
  
"I didn't know! I didn't know!" wailed Watari. "It should have been my gender-switching potion! A way to revolutionize human relations! And instead, I get Tsuzuki and Terazuma kissing in the corner!" A wicked grin crept over his face as he said under his breath, "though the proceeds from the sale of the photoes I got from that kept me supplied with lab equipment for months."  
  
"Useful," Tatsumi commented drily. "Especially after Terazuma-san wrecked your lab when he found out you were the one selling the photoes."  
  
"Well, I had to keep myself entertained somehow," Watari said, innocence covering him like a polka-dotted shroud. He then irritably shook his hair back from his face. Tatsumi was momentarily lost in admiring the golden strands. 'I wonder what sort of shampoo he uses?'  
  
Watari continued, "Anyways, I need to get back to my lab. I need to finish writing down notes for my last experiment before I forget. See ya!"  
  
Watari waved and walked off towards his lab. As Tatsumi turned to head back to his office, he paused. 'Wait a second...' he thought to himself. Not once, during the entire conversation, had he had the chance to subtly pump Watari for information about their upcoming missions. 'It's almost as though he was attempting to avoid the subject...'  
  
  
~~~~~~  
Watari  
~~~~~~  
  
  
Watari strode to his lab quickly. He carefully closed the door behind him and locked it. He then leaned against the door and closed his eyes. He could feel the fine tremours shaking his body. "Shit shit shit shit," he muttered under his breath, so softly that even he could barely hear it. "Why the hell did they have to come now?"  
  
003 chirped inqiringly. When Watari made no response., it burrowed into his lab coat. Watari's shivers began slowly to subside. "Thank you, 003," he said, affectionately stroking the tiny owl's head. The owl chirped cheerfully, and burrowed deeper.   
  
Watari began to move over to the little bedroom off the main room of his lab, going his best not to disturb the contented owl in his coat. He went over to the bed, and moved it forward. Behind it was a little niche, barely large enough to contain the polished wooden box laying within. Watari removed the box, and opened it, revealing the object inside, lying nestled on a royal blue velvet lining. He carefully, almost reverently, removed it, and stowed the box back into its hiding place. He then examined the object carefully, lost in thought.   
  
"Odd how circumstances change," he finally mused quietly. "I never really thought I'd ever need to use this again. Wistful thinking, I suppose."  
  
He stayed in that position for a long time, before deftly storing the object somewhere on his person and standing up. He had plenty of work to do, and he wanted to get most of it done before tomorrow. He had the sinking feeling that tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.  
  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
The next day  
Earth  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   
  
  
The four of them - Tatsumi, Watari, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka - were walking down a street in Kyoto. Watari cast a critical eye on Tsuzuki and Hisoka, attempting to discern any ill effects from being in the area which they had so carefully avoided since Tsuzuki almost died in Touda's black flames. However, even his most penetrating glance could discern no overt distress, so Watari relaxed - slightly. A thought struck him, and he moved over to Tatsumi's side.   
  
"Oh, Tatsumi," Watari started. At Tatsumi's inquiring glance, he continued. "How are we starting this mission, anyways?" he asked. At Tatsumi's raised eyebrow, he continued defensively. "It's been a while since I've been on a mission, you know. I'm out of practice!"  
  
Tatsumi sighed, hiding his amusement. "First I think we should investigate the people who have already been killed by Lord Voldemort. So we're all going to the first victim's house to talk to his wife."  
  
"Got it!" Watari nodded enthusiastically, then dropped back to talk to Tsuzuki, carefully ignoring Tatsumi's searching look. He began to cheerfully babble with Tsuzuki about inane topics - the meaning of life, where to get the best sweets, and whether pink or purple is a better colour for a car. Hisoka and Tatsumi gave them identical pained looks.  
  
Suddenly, the two of them were interrupted, as a woman approached them. She was tall, with icy blonde hair and a peculiarly ageless serenity. She could have been anywhere from twenty to eighty years of age. She walked directly up to Watari, and spoke quietly, but loud enough for all his companions to hear.  
  
"If you will excuse me, I would like to know why someone who I saw die twenty years ago is walking around looking identical to the way he looked on the day he died."  
  
  
To be continued....  
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Note: I hope I did an adequate cliffhanger. Ok, ok, this chapter is mostly exposition. Boring exposition, at that. (Though I'm considering writing a sidestory about the aphrodesiac in the coffee). I promise it'll get better though.... I hope. If not, I freely give you my oh-so-gracious permission not to read it.   
  
  
For terms of address, I am depending upon Theria-san's lovely translations to provide me the proper forms of address. However, in one or two cases, I'm can't seem to find someplace in the manga where the two relevant characters are conversing, so if you see a mistake, please tell me, and I will be eternally grateful. At least for the day. I'm doing my level best to avoid Japanese other than that, though. So far, I have managed to avoid using the word genki to describe Watari. I'm so proud of myself. Oh, in case anyone doesn't know, shinigami means god of death, and is the title used for all of their jobs.  
  
  
Btw, I'm curious. How many people figured out what the 'mysterious' object behind Watari's bed is? I'm assuming its pretty obvious, but I don't know if people will actually realize what it is. I surely hope so. It seems excessively obvious to me, but then again, I'm the author. 


	2. Meetings

The Past Unburied  
by icediamond  
  
Chapter 2   
  
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Well, here it is! The anxiously-awaited (I'm so sure) chapter 2! Yippee.   
  
Disclaimer: Neither Yami no Matsuei nor Harry Potter belong to me. If they did, I'd be way too rich to bother writing fanfiction. As it is, I'm broke from completing my Christmas shopping, so please don't sue me.  
  
Warnings: Yaoi. Slash. M/m pairings, whatever you want to call them. Het pairing (but it's a cool, screwed up one, I promise!). Generous adjustment of universes to match. Hints of NCS (remembered) later on in the story.   
  
What happened last chapter: Watari, Tatsumi, Hisoka and Tsuzuki were assigned to a new case: to stop Lord Voldemort from expanding into Japan. Watari is getting oddly stressed over the whole thing. He is obviously hiding a major secret. Now, a woman has approached the group, who apparently saw Watari die twenty years ago.  
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~~~~~~  
Tatsumi  
~~~~~~  
  
  
Tatsumi's eyes widened, and he looked carefully at Watari to gauge his reaction. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tsuzuki and Hisoka doing the same thing. Under their combined gazes, Watari froze for a moment, before assuming a blank expression. "Sorry?" he said, radiating innocent confusion.  
  
The foreign woman's eyes narrowed. "Do not even think of trying to pull that bullshit on me, Yutaka," she said, each word falling into place like an ice block repeatedly hitting Watari over the head. Tatsumi felt his eyes widen at her usage of Watari's given name. Apparently she did know him. "I have known you for far too long for it to work, and you know how little patience I have with nonsense."  
  
"Really, Narcissa?," Watari responded innocently. "Then why on earth did you ever marry my brother?"  
  
Instead of responding, Narcissa gave him a death glare. "Yutaka."  
  
Watari sighed. "Really, Narcissa. You have no sense of humour."  
  
"I wonder why," she said with full sarcasm.  
  
Watari winced. "Fine fine. But not in the street."  
  
"I know a nice little French cafe nearby." She turned to Tatsumi, as representative of the other three. "Yould the three of you care to join us? I am Malfoy Narcissa, to use your Japanese name order."  
  
Tatsumi's eyes narrowed. He got a very ominous feeling from this woman, and had no desire to leave Watari alone with her. He bowed slightly. "If you don't mind. I am Tatsumi Seiichiro, and this is Kurosaki Hisoka and Tsuzuki Asato."  
  
"Pleased to meet you. Shall we go?"  
  
  
~~~~~~  
Watari  
~~~~~~  
  
  
The five of them reached the cafe. Narcissa spoke with the waiter for a moment in flawless French. Watari was feeling too off-balance to try to sort through his admittedly rusty French to try to figure out just what she was saying. He assumed it had to do with the table, anyways.  
  
He growled at himself mentally. He was thinking about the most inane things, and avoiding the major issue here. What was he going to tell Narcissa? He really didn't want to tell her the full truth, but he knew any lie he told she would catch him in immediately.   
  
At that thought, he looked at Narcissa thoughtfully. How much did he trust Narcissa? Not bloody enough, in his opinion.  
  
Finally, he decided upon a course of action. It was risky, but he figured that the information he could gain from this outweighed the risk. With little more than a mental wince, he burned his few remaining shreads of hope of not having to tell the rest of them about his past. He still intended on dodging the subject until forced not to, of course. He just didn't have any hope of succeeding.  
  
With his resolve stiffened, he waited patiently as they were lead to a private room in the back. Narcissa waited until the waiter returned with a nice red wine, some elegant sandwiches, and cake for Tsuzuki, and then waited until he left before saying, "I'm still awaiting the explanation, you know."  
  
Watari gave her a dazzling smile. "Well, you see, after I died, I became a shinigami." Noting her tiny forwn, he translated the term into English. "God of death." He awaited her nod of acknowledgement before continuing. "A shinigami's job is to investigate odd deaths. At the moment I'm supposed to be preventing Lord Voldemort from building a power base in Japan."  
  
At his last words, Watari noted resignedly that her hand tightened around her wineglass until her knuckles were white. However, she managed to keep it subtle enough that he doubted that anyone else had noticed. "I see..." here she stalled, apparently unable to think of a response to that.  
  
Watari decided to give her an out. "What have you been up to these last twenty years or so, anyways?"  
  
Narcissa seemed to regain some of her equilibrium. "Oh, this and that. Mostly I've been raising my and Lucius' son."  
  
Watari was surprised. "Son?"  
  
"Yes. Draco. He graduated from Hogwarts last year, and is with us on our trip to Japan."  
  
"Congratulations!" Watari said enthusiastically, his wariness momentarily forgotten. "I heard how hard the two of you were trying to have a child."  
  
The five of them chatted idly as they ate. Once she had finished, Narcissa delicately dabbed at her mouth, before replacing the napkin onto the table. "Well, I suppose I had better go now. I have a party to go to in a few hours." She stood up.   
  
"By the way," she added, taking some tickets out of her elegant purse, "you may wish to consider going to the party yourselves. It will advance your case immeasurably."  
  
At this, she gave an enigmatic smile, but before anyone could react to that, she dropped the tickets on the table and walked out the room. Hisoka and Tsuzuki dashed after her, only to return a few minutes later. "She disappeared," Hisoka said, sounding angry at himself for letting her escape.   
  
Tatsumi and Watari had picked up the tickets and were studying them. "The ticket says that the ball's tonight, starting at 6 o'clock," said Tatsumi.  
  
"And she's already worried about getting ready?!" Hisoka asked incredulously. "That's three hours away!"  
  
"Bon, she's a woman. I've met very few women who would be happy taking any less for a formal party, which I'm assuming this is. Narcissa's as bad as any other," Watari explained.  
  
"That reminds me," Tatsumi said. "Do you know anything about what she said concerning the case?"  
  
Watari quickly decided to dodge the truth. "Even after she married my brother, she and I were never really close. Most of what I know about her I heard from other people, and we all know how reliable that is." 'Well, none of that was technically a lie,' he defended himself mentally.  
  
Tsuzuki was unable to restrain his curiosity. "I would have thought you would have gotten to know her after she married your brother. Why not?" he questioned, with a pronounced lack of tact.   
  
Watari gave an odd little smile. "My brother - half-brother, actually - and I never really got along very well. I was always a reminder that his father had cheated on his mother, so..."  
  
And here he trailed off, unwilling to get more specific than that. Fortunately, Hisoka noticed his discomfort, and jumped in. "So, are we going to this ball or not?"  
  
Tatsumi gave Watari a questioning glance. "Is she British?"  
  
Watari instantly realizes where Tatsumi was going with this. "Yeah."  
  
"In that case, yes."  
  
Tsuzuki looked confused. "Huh?"  
  
Hisoka sighed. "Idiot." When Tsuzuki's expression remained blank, he elabourated. "Remember? Lord Voldemort was from England?"  
  
Tsuzuki slammed his fist into his palm, his face alight with realization. "Oh! So you think she has a better chance of knowing something about it!"  
  
Watari thought grumpily, 'I think Tatsumi suspects rather more than that,' but simply said, "Well, it would make sense for someone who came from Britain to know more about someone else from Britain."  
  
"Indeed," said Tatsumi. "Anyways, for now I suggest that we go talk to last two families of the victims. I think we should separate. Tsuzuki and Hisoka, you take the Yaminobes. Watari, you and I will take the Aokis. Let's meet back at the hotel at four to organize information and get ready for the party."  
  
The four of them nodded, but before they could leave, the waiter came into the room. "The check, monsieur," he murmured, politely presenting the check to Tatsumi as the obvious authority figure.   
  
As Tatsumi saw the total amount, a black aura sprung up around him. Everyone started backing away from him. "Watari..." he said, in a tone of utter reasonableness.  
  
"Ah, yes, Tatsumi?" Watari responded, unobtrusively edging towards the door.  
  
"Since it was one of your relatives who caused us to go to this entirely too expensive cafe, far exceeding the budget for this trip, you are going to pay for this, right...?" At the last word, the black shadows surrounding him surged even higher.  
  
Watari considered arguing, but another glance at the shadows around Tatsumi persuaded him not to do so. "Yes, Tatsumi," he said obediently. While he didn't really think that the shadow-master would do anything too bad to him if he didn't agree, it was really best not to argue with Tatsumi in matters of money.  
  
Tatsumi handed him the check, and Watari goggled at the price. 'Of course, Narcissa would have to pick the most expensive restaurant in Kyoto, and then skip out without paying the check. She never did like me,' he moaned mentally. Watari reluctantly dug out enough cash to pay for it, wincing as he realized how little that left him until the next paycheck. 'I wonder if I still have any copies of the pictures of Terazuma kissing Tsuzuki? Nah, I don't think there's anyone left to sell them too... Everyone already has one, dammit. Maybe if I manage to get a picture of Tsuzuki and Bon kissing... It would be fun to see their reactions to that anyways.'  
  
Interrupting Watari's musings on how to make up for this loss, Tatsumi cleared his throat loudly. "Well? Shall we get working?"  
  
The three of them made various vague assents, and left the cafe. Inside, Watari was extremely relieved that none of his friends had thought to ask the obvious question.  
  
None of them had asked him whether or not Narcissa was a witch.  
  
  
~~~~~~  
Tatsumi  
~~~~~~  
  
  
Tatsumi looked with concern at his coworker. Talking to the victim's family had been as unpleasant as it ever was, but Watari had been oddly silent even before that, ever since the meeting at the cafe. He knew that the blonde was hiding something from the rest of them, and he was worried. He desperately searched for a topic to bring up to kill this increasingly awkward silence.  
  
Finally Tatsumi gave up on finding a subtle way of talking to Watari. "Are you feeling okay?"   
  
He paused, awaiting an answer. Hearing none, he repeated himself, slightly louder.  
  
Watari remained lost in thought, not even noticing the questions.  
  
"Watari!" said the secretary sharply, his voice cracking over the other's consciousness like a whip.  
  
Watari jumped. "Huh? What?"  
  
"You were completely lost in thought," said Tatsumi sternly. "I had to repeat myself twice to get you to hear me. Softening his voice slightly, he continued, "Are you okay? You've been acting weird ever since the meeting yeaterday."  
  
Watari nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Just... old memories, I suppose." He paused for a second, his eyes gazing on memories long past. "Caught me by surprise."  
  
Tatsumi nodded. "Memories tend to do that, I've noticed." He paused, conflicted. He knew that he needed to know more about what was happening with the subdued scientist, but he also felt a strong reluctance to bring more pain into those now-shadowed eyes. It hurt him, far past the level it should, to see the normally cheerful scientist this gloomy. Eventually, though, need to know won over the desire to avoid painful topics, and he asked, "Anything you're willing to tell us?"  
  
Pain flared in Watari's amber eyes. "Not yet..." he said, almost too quietly for Tatsumi to hear. "After the party, I promise. By then, I'll know what information's necessary for the case."  
  
Tatsumi paused. "Thank you for that. But, I'm not just concerned about the case. I'm more worried about you." Steadfastly ignoring his dignity, who was jumping up and down screaming at him in the back of his mind, he drew the younger man into a firm hug.  
  
They stayed like that for several moments. Tatsumi could feel Watari shaking slightly in his embrace, but the scientist seemed mostly content to just stay like that.  
  
Finally, Watari reluctantly pulled away. "Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome," Tatsumi smiled. Looking at the scientist, he could tell that Watari had calmed somewhat from his state five minutes ago, which Tatsumi counted as a Good Thing.  
  
The two of them jumped as a church bell rang in the quiet air. Tatsumi checked his watch. "The party starts in half an hour. We'd better get going back to the hotel."  
  
Watari nodded. "Yeah. I wonder how Tsuzuki and Hisoka did?"  
  
The two men disappeared, leaving behind only a deserted street.  
  
Back in the hotel room he and Watari shared, Tatsumi told Watari curtly, "I'm going to go see if Tsuzuki and Hisoka are back yet," ducking out of the room before the scientist had a chance to respond.  
  
"Good," he said upon seeing the two in their room, talking about Watari's strange behavior. "You've noticed it, too."  
  
"Of course," said Hisoka.   
  
"I'm not going to push him yet, but could the two of you keep an eye on him during the party? Especially you, Kurosaki-kun, with your empathy. This entire thing worries me."  
  
"I will," responded Hisoka.  
  
"Thank you. We're going to have a meeting in Watari's and my room over what progress we've made now."  
  
When the three of them reached the room, they saw Watari sitting quietly on the bed, lost in thought. Hisoka and Tsuzuki were obviously surprised, but a death-glare from Tatsumi prevented them from saying anything. "So, what have we discovered so far?" Tatsumi asked, starting the meeting.  
  
"Well, all the victims have had two things in common. All of them are important in some way, and all have died without a mark on them," responded Hisoka. "There was Yaminobe Katsuna, who was a government official, Kanasawa Nokoru, a powerful onmyouji, Seta Anji, a Shinto monk, Ikeda Shinobu, head of a corporation that produces weaponry for the army, Takamori Ran, a prominent politician, Aoki Kazuya, a Buddhist monk, and Hasukawa Shuuichi, a prominent scientist."  
  
"Lord Voldemort seems to be going for people who could prove a danger, whether technologically, politically, or magically, at the moment," mused Tatsumi. "According to my report, this is his standard first method of attack, followed by highly-publicized terrorist attacks on his next strongest opponents."  
  
"Do we know how these people are being killed at the moment?" asked Tsuzuki.   
  
Here Watari interjected, "When I was studying the British magic Lord Voldemort uses, I came across a spell, seemingly very famous, called the Killing Curse. It kills the victims instantaneously, without a mark, and is most probably the spell being used here."  
  
"Is Lord Voldemort the only one who can use it?" asked Tatsumi.   
  
"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that any wizard, trained properly, could use it."  
  
"So it is still most likely to be one of Lord Voldemort's followers," said Tsuzuki hopefully.  
  
"Yeah," responded Watari. Tatsumi saw him begin to drift again, and wondered.   
  
"At the moment, our only lead seems to be this party that Narcissa spoke of," Tatsumi announced. "I would ordinarily prefer to have two of you working as staff, but it seems that it's too late too arrange that."  
  
He was interrupted by Tsuzuki's cheer.  
  
A quelling scowl on his face, he continued, "Therefore, we will all attend as guests. I hope you all have something appropriate to wear." Here his eyes wandered to Watari, wondering how the scientist would look dressed up for once.  
  
Watari, misinterpreting his gaze, said cheerfully, "Don't worry, I have some dress clothes somewhere... I think."  
  
"I see. Well, why don't we finish this meeting so that everyone can get ready for the party? Watari, I don't want you coming in a lab coat," he said sternly.  
  
"Okay, okay. I'll go search my closet," said Watari resignedly, and disappeared.  
  
"Well, we'd better go get ready too," said Hisoka, heading towards the door, Tsuzuki in tow.  
  
After the three of them had left, Tatsumi was left alone. "I have a very bad feeling about this..."  
  
__________________________________________________________________________  
  
Notes: That hug was PLATONIC, people. At least in their minds. *coughdenialcough* The serious Tats/Wat stuff won't be getting going til chapter 4. And there is going to be no graphic sex in this. Unless I change my mind. But, at the moment, Tatsumi's seriously worried because the one person he thought was actually genuinely cheerful is seriously upset right now, so he's basically trying to prevent Watari from becoming another Tsuzuki, since the last time something like this happened, it was Tsuzuki. And we all know how screwed up Tsuzuki is. At the moment, though, Tatsumi's doing this on a purely subconsious basis. But this is a brief explanation *coughrationalizationcough* for the characterization in the hugging scene, which is otherwise way too WAFFy. Ick.   
  
I really feel like the characterization's been loose, for lack of a better term, this entire chapter. With Tsuzuki and Hisoka especially, since most of what I've read on them has been internal perspectives, instead of external, so trying to write them from Watari's viewpoint is difficult. *sigh* I'm currently trying to figure out a sideplot for the two of them. Any votes on whether or not I should include Muraki? At the moment, I'm wavering. I have an idea of how I could use him, but I'm not certain how well it would work.   
  
By the way, I'll probably be posting up a timeline after the fourth chapter. I've been working extremely hard on coordinating the timelines, so I want to post it up after I did all that work on it. I can't post it up before then, though, because there's spoilers in it.  
  
Response to Reviews:  
Kimitha - Not telling yet. Sorry. Wait til next chapter.  
Morien Alexander - Thank you!   
free4ever - I'm not going to get around to doing the sidestory for a while, but I hopefully will. If I can get a handle on Terazuma's character.  
ShiTiger - Thanks.  
Anime Angel - Agreed. Way way way too few. And I can only think of a very few multi-chapter one. *Sigh* That's why it's the duty of all good Tatsumi/Watari fans to write a fic on them. :) On the other hand, the lack of multi-chapter fics inspired me to write this, so I'm not arguing. Okay, actually I am but... eh, nevermind.  
Draconsis - Thank you, but I can't tell you quite yet. I planned on revealing it this chapter, but things came up.  
Asidian - One of my more favorite YnM authors likes my fic! *dances happily* And I actually did put more Hisoka in this chapter... He and Tsuzuki are cute together. And, as I wrote this, I got new ideas for the sidestory which are frankly scaring me, so I'm not sure. I occasionally have to abandon fics because I weird myself out. Sad, but true.   
DD - Thanks. And, as far as I can tell, I am the only one who's written a HP/YnM fic so far. I'm not sure whether to be horrified or pleased.   
  
Next chapter: The party scene. Watari encounters his brother, Lucius, for the first time in 20 years. More is revealed about his mysterious past. 


	3. Party Time

The Past Unburied  
by icediamond  
  
Chapter 3  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Disclaimer: Neither Yami no Matsuei nor Harry Potter belong to me. If they did, I'd be way too rich to bother writing fanfiction. As it is, I'm broke from completing my Christmas shopping, so please don't sue me.  
  
Warnings: Yaoi. Slash. M/m pairings, whatever you want to call them. Het pairing (but it's a cool, screwed up one, I promise!). Generous adjustment of universes to match. Hints of NCS (remembered) later on in the story.   
  
What has happened so far: Watari, Tatsumi, Hisoka and Tsuzuki were assigned to a new case: to stop Lord Voldemort from expanding into Japan. Watari is disturbed and hiding something. The gang are now about to attend a party which Watari's sister-in-law says will be helpful to the case...  
(God, that feels awkward.)  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
~~~~~~  
Watari  
~~~~~~  
  
  
Watari followed Tatsumi in presenting his invitation to the usher standing at the door, and was immediately let in. He looked around, concealing his nervousness. 'Damn, this is nice!' he thought with a silent whistle.   
  
Elegant crystal chandeliers cast golden light on elegantly dressed men and women who were mingling with the restrained politeness of a truly high-class party. Watari estimated that the combined value of the jewelry in the room could buy a medium-size country in Africa, with enough left over to buy that country a well-equipped army. Watari felt almost underdressed in his tuxedo that he had managed to scrounge up from somewhere. Of course, it was purple. He felt like he was in some Sailor Moon show. 'If I feel the urge to start making speeches about love, I am so out of here,' he thought irritably.  
  
Hisoka joined him briefly. "Tatsumi says to stop standing there are, and start mingling."  
  
"Okay, okay." Sigh.   
  
Hisoka looked at him for a second. "You okay?"  
  
Watari waved his hand dismissively, pasting a smile on his face. "Yeah, sure. Formal parties just make me nervous."  
  
"If you say so..." Hisoka saw Tsuzuki about to dive head-first into the buffet, and rushed off to stop him.  
  
Watari wandered through the party. Long-forgotten instincts enabled him to mingle and chat politely with his mind elsewhere. 'God, this is boring,' he thought with an inward sigh. He was beginning to wonder if Narcissa had simply been yanking their chain. He then began to wonder just how the phrase yanking their chain came into existence. Maybe when people were put on the rack, and the rack was elongated, they pulled on a chain to lengthen it. He certainly could sympathize with them at the moment. Suddenly, a infuriatingly calm, and oh-so-familiar voice came from behind him.  
  
"Hello, Yutaka."  
  
Watari felt the familiar mask of eccentricity slip over him, as his instincts shrilled danger alarms. "Lucius! What a surprise! I hope that the little potion I left in your liquor cabinet didn't cause you any trouble."  
  
Lucius' face went momentarily blank. "Potion?"  
  
"Yes! I substituted one of my amazing concoctions for your bottle of whiskey. I even managed to make it taste the same! My newest creation at the time, my Impotency Potion!"  
  
Watari saw Lucius' lips shape "So that's why..." without making a sound.   
  
Watari suppressed a snicker.  
  
Lucius' eyes narrowed. "If you're done, would you care to move someplace private? I presume you have no desire for anyone to hear the rest of our conversation."  
  
"On one condition," Watari said, smiling.  
  
"What?" Lucius asked warily.  
  
"You tell me how long the impotency potion lasted, and what happened to cause it to wear off."  
  
Lucius almost choked.  
  
"It's important for science!" Watari protested innocently. "After all, the only other person I ever tested it on was Evan Rosier, and his wife told me she couldn't tell the difference!"  
  
Lucius eyed the one man he had never quite been able to predict warily. "Will you come with me to speak in private if I do so?"  
  
"Sure!" said Watari. He was, oddly enough, feeling more relaxed than he had since he had found out that Voldemort was attempting to take over Japan. He figured it was sheer panic combined with the opportunity to piss off Lucius once more.  
  
"Fine. It lasted a few months, until Narcissa's full-blooded Veela cousin came to visit."  
  
"Reasonable enough," Watari shrugged, suppressing firmly his desire to snicker at tbe look of discomfort on Lucius' face. "Once it wore off, I'm assuming that there were no further difficulties?"  
  
Lucius gave him a death-glare. "There were not," he bit off, clenching his jaw. "Now, shall we go?"  
  
"Certainly," said Watari courteously.  
  
Lucius stalked off, and Watari followed.  
  
As they entered an elegantly-decorated room, which had some of the thickest shields Watari could remember sensing outside of Malfoy Manor, he felt much of the humour of their public conversation die. For a moment, he just looked at the brother he hadn't seen for twenty years. Still tall and arrogant, his blond hair as yet showed no signs of gray, and his gray eyes looked as piercing as ever. Seeing him standing there in his ridiculously expensive Armani suit, Watari was rudely reminded of everything he had struggled so hard to forget. "I see you're doing as well as expected," said Watari.  
  
"Really. A shame I can't say the same of you." Lucius smiled, showing a tinge of real amusement. "I mean, really. A purple tuxedo?"  
  
"I felt like being a prince and rescuing airheaded clutzes," responded Watari dryly. He was rewarded with seeing a flicker of confusion in Lucius' eyes. He loved throwing pop culture references at Lucius.  
  
"Did you. I suppose princes must have abominable taste?"  
  
"Of course," said Watari. "After all, what else are princes for but to do ridiculous things in such a way as to make them seem wonderful?"  
  
"Somehow, Yutaka, I don't think that your wearing a tuxedo will convince anyone it's wonderful."  
  
Watari shrugged. "Probably not."  
  
Watari saw Lucius abruptly tire of their game. "I will admit, I was somewhat surprised when Narcissa told me that she met you today. Still fighting our Lord?"  
  
Watari's voice chilled, abruptly losing all vestige of humour. He was pissed. "Voldemort," he said the name deliberately, watching Lucius' slight flinch, "is not my Lord. I acknowledge no psychotic terrorist as my Master." Watari paused, and added, "Especially not if he's such a flaming idiot as to require his followers to get a tattoo."  
  
"Regardless of the fact, you swore loyalty to our Lord, and then betrayed him... traitor."  
  
"Damn right I did," snapped Watari. "Oaths made under duress are nonbinding, and don't think I was stupid enough to think that I would get out of there alive if I didn't swear."  
  
"I take it you still intend on preventing me from completing the mission our Lord assigned to me?" There was an unmistakeable note of danger in Lucius' voice, his hand lingering on his belt, next to his wand.  
  
Watari drew the object that he had withdrawn from its long-time hiding place several days ago, feeling the reassuring weight of his wand in his had once more. "I do."  
  
Lucius struck. "Adflicto affligo."   
  
Watari nimbly dodged, and retaliated with a curse of his own. "Debilito."  
  
Watari quickly fell into the familiar pattern of curse and counter curse. As the room lost its elegance as rebounded spells destroyed it, he vaguely hoped that Tatsumi wouldn't be too upset about the property damage. They continued to fight. As time ticked by, their curses became more damaging, more lethal, until finally...  
  
Lucius paused, panting slightly. Blood soaked his hair from a glancing hit from a previous curse of Watari's, but he had managed to avoid any serious damage. Watari, on the other hand, was a mess. Rapidly healing burns crawled up one side of his face, a cut on his side still bled sluggishly, and a grey fog covered his eyes. Most disturbing, however, was the way that the flesh on his left arm was rotting off.  
  
"Crucio!" shouted Lucius. His eyes were filled with triumph as Watari was finally just slightly too slow, and the curse hit him full on. Watari collapsed bonelessly onto the floor.  
  
Watari suppressed the mindless screaming he wanted to indulge in, dredging up old pain-control techniques he had learned in long ago days. He managed to drag himself over to a wall, and leaned against it, staring at Lucius with hard eyes. "What..." he rasped, attempting to gain control of his voice. "...do you want..."  
  
"You to misdirect your coworkers in the investigation," said Lucius calmly.  
  
"Fuck off..." Watari mumbled. His eyes began to fall closed, as he felt his strength in his fight against the curse begin to wane.  
  
"Failing that, for you to die."  
  
"I'm... already dead... remember...?" Watari smirked, faking confidence.  
  
"I'm sure there's a way to make that more permanent. I'll simply have to experiment for a bit."  
  
Lucius raised his wand once more, as Watari closed his eyes, unable to do any more to resist.   
  
Bang! The door to the room smashed open, and Tatsumi, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka skidded in, ready for action. They stopped in shock at the scene before them.  
  
Lucius looked disappointed. "Well, I suppose it would be unwise to continue just now. I will see you later, little brother. Finite Incantum."  
  
Watari let out a shuddering sigh of relief as he was released from Crucio.  
  
Lucius continued with a smirk, "Have fun with your investigation. Apparate!"  
  
With that, he disappeared.  
  
~~~~~~  
Tatsumi  
Five minutes ago  
~~~~~~  
  
Narcissa came gliding up to Tatsumi, who had just managed to escape from an overaged dowager intent on having him meet her daughter. "Hello, Tatsumi-san, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes, it is. A pleasure to see you again." He quickly disposed of the pleasantries. "May I ask why you recommended that we come to this party to gether information for our case? I must admit that this seems quite innocuous so far."  
  
Narcissa ignored his question, and smiled. "Have you seen Yutaka lately?"   
  
With that, she adeptly blended into the crowd once more. This time, Tatsumi didn't even bother trying to find her again. All of his long-developed instincts were screaming that Watari was in danger.  
  
He quickly located Tsuzuki and Hisoka, both of them who had been monopolized by a young aristocratic gaijin man. He quickly went over to them.  
  
"Have you seen Watari-san?" he asked the two of them.   
  
The two of them jumped. "He was over there the last time I looked for him," said Tsuzuki, pointing at the far wall.  
  
Hisoka paused for a second, then paled. "I can't feel him anymore."  
  
The young man interjected, "There is a room in the back that is heavily shielded. My father probably took him there. Go to that exit" - pointing at a door partially hidden by a draped curtain - "follow the hallway until you reach a door carved with dragons, and go in there."  
  
At the clearly shown startlement in everyone's face, the young man grinned. "My father ordered me to distract you while he talked to Yutaka. I can't disobey him there without facing some pretty...severe...consequences. But, he didn't tell me anything about not telling you where he took Yutaka, and I thus have no obligation to do so."  
  
"Pretty sophisticated logic for an nineteen year old," said Tatsumi skeptically.  
  
An unreadable expression flashed over the man's face. "He" - nodding towards Hisoka - "reminds me of someone. I can't help him, so I'm helping you instead."  
  
Hisoka looked like he didn't quite know how to answer that, so Tsuzuki took over for him. "Thank you," he said, for once looking serious. "If your information is true, we owe you a debt. Might we ask your name?"  
  
"I'm Draco Malfoy, but don't worry about any sort of debt," the young man waved off any gratitude. Looking pointedly at his watch, he added, "You better get going. It's been a while."  
  
Tatsumi nodded, and the three of them rushed off, Hisoka still looking vaguely startled.   
  
A few minutes later, they were at the door. The three of them rushed in as Tatsumi kicked down the door. They stopped dead.   
  
Tatsumi felt his blood turn to ice as he saw the blond scientist, leaning against the wall. He looked like a breathing corpse, and the only thing that reassured him was the knowledge of just how hard shinigami were to kill. He heard the other man in the room, who looked uncannily like Watari, say, "Well, I suppose it would be unwise to continue just now. I will see you later, little brother. Finite Incantum. Have fun with your investigation. Apparate!" With that, the other man disappeared.  
  
Tatsumi thought he was about to pass out from shock. Little brother?! Watari had an elder brother?! Who he had apparently just been fighting?! WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON HERE?!  
  
Tatsumi deliberately shoved aside his shock, and joined Tsuzuki and Hisoka in kneeling next to Watari. "How badly injured are you?"  
  
Watari responded slowly, "Give me a few minutes. I know the countercurses for most of these, and then all I need to do is whip up a potion for the aftereffects, and I'll be set."  
  
"Countercurse...?" Tatsumi's voice trailed off as Watari began to mutter under his breath, and his injuries began to visibly disappear. The process of healing his rotting arm seemed painfully slow, taking almost five minutes, but finally, unblemished flesh was left. Still, Watari's hands trembled.  
  
Tsuzuki chirped, "I didn't know you knew that sort of magic."  
  
Watari's normally cheerful smile seemed more like a grimace at the moment. "It's not exactly something I tell anyone."  
  
Before the newly-revealed wizard could continue, Tatsumi scooped him up in his arms. "Hey!" protested Watari weakly.   
  
"You still need to make yourself that potion, and I doubt you're in any state to bring yourself back to Meifu by yourself. You should conserve your strength," said Tatsumi briskly, firmly stopping himself from blushing. Watari felt...right...in his arms.  
  
Watari, apparently too tired to argue at the moment, weakly agreed. A few seconds later, they were back in Watari's lab. Tatsumi trusted that Tsuzuki and Hisoka could take care of whatever was necessary before going back to the hotel.  
  
003 immediately flew over to them, chirping in irritation at having been left behind, then in concern at seeing its master's state. It fluttered around Watari worriedly. Tatsumi carefully put Watari on the floor, still unobtrusively ready to support him should he prove to need it. The scientist didn't seem to notice as he quickly and skillfully mixed things Tatsumi didn't recognize. He moved almost as if in a trance, only breaking it as the potion turned a pale blue.  
  
The moment it did so, Watari gulped it down, almost swaying with relief and suddenly-realized exhaustion as the effects hit him. Tatsumi saw him sway, and immediately picked him up again. "Where's the bed in here, anyways?"  
  
Watari waved vaguely in the direction of his tiny bedroom. "Over there."  
  
Tatsumi carried him over into his bedroom, and laid him gently on the bed. Somewhere along the way, Watari had fallen asleep. Tatsumi carefully removed the outer layer of the tuxedo, leaving Watari still dressed in a shirt and pants. He didn't have the nerve to undress Watari any further. 003 snuggled on top of Watari as Tatsumi carefully tucked Watari into the covers, and then just sat there for a very long time.  
  
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Notes: Well, this one's up really early. Ah, the wonders of being home sick from school for two days. I still feel like crap, but I guess that means I should distract myself by writing. Not like there's much else to do when sick anyways. I suppose I should do my English homework, but fortunately, I really don't care.   
  
In case anyone wonders, yes, I am a Harry/Draco fan. And I came up with the Tsuzuki/Hisoka sideplot! I'm overcome with joy. Expect for those two to begin to play a role in the story in the next couple chapters. It does mean I'll be needing to add another viewpoint to the story, though. Sorry, I was trying to keep it to Watari and Tatsumi.  
  
For those of you who usually hate crossovers, first off, I'm flattered that you're making an exception. Secondly, believe me, I sympathize with you. I'm a crossover fan who gave up on reading crossovers a couple of years ago because I realized that ninety-nine percent of all crossovers frankly sucked. My personal theory is that people become so locked up in throwing the characters together, they forget little things such as plot or spelling. Or characterization, for that matter. One thing no one has ever complained about is my spelling. My various psychoses, yes. But not my spelling. (I'm joking here people. You can stop running and screaming.) Actually, the best line a psychiatrist ever gave me was 'You're normal for your culture as long as your culture consists of your family.' I interpret that to mean I'm screwed up, but so's my family, so that's ok. Not the most reassuring thing I've ever heard. Sorry, felt like rambling.  
  
By the way, if there's anyone willing to beta-read for me, please e-mail me. My occasional beta-reader will only read HP non-slash, so I'm writing this with no beta-reader and it's making me nervous. Thanks.  
  
Response to Reviews:  
DD - Somehow, I really can't imagine Muraki ever being anyone's sidekick. Now, ally on the other hand...  
Morien Alexander - You know, I hadn't even thought of Harry's reaction before I read that. Now, I'm tentatively planning on including it in future chapters. Congratulations! And thank you for the compliments.  
free4ever - sorry, I couldn't manage to write any Tsuzuki stuff in. I find him incredibly hard to write. But I did have fun with the Lucius/Watari scene. :)  
Clea - Harry really should have been in Slytherin shouldn't he? Oh well, now everyone has to satisfy themselves with fanfiction. Personally, my favorites are where he comes to peace with his Slytherin side. If you ever want to read an absolutely great fic with that, read Mirror of Maybe by Midnight Blue. It's Harry/Severus, a concept which scares the crap out of me, but she actually manages to make it work. And thank you for the compliments. It really is amazing how well the two series work together, isn't it? I researched it for a week, trying to prove to myself that it wouldn't work, but the timeline works so bloody well together, it's a miracle. Did you know that Hisoka and Harry were born in the same year?  
Draconsis - Thank you. And I would try for long chapters, but then I tend to get distracted, which is probably a bad thing. I'm already generally reading another couple fics simultaneously as I write this. I have no attention span.  
Ysabet - One of my favorite YnM authors likes my fic! Yay! Actually, your two Watari fics I keep rereading when I need inspiration. And sorry, no 003 in the party, but you're almost right with the wand! I figure it's rowan, with a phoenix tail-feather. I'm not sure why rowan though. I seem to remember it as being a fairly magical sort of wood in some mythologies, though. Maybe Celtic? I can't quite remember. Oh well.  
  
Next chapter: Watari explains himself. We find out about his past. 


	4. Conversations

The Past Unburied  
by icediamond  
  
Chapter 4  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Disclaimer: Neither Yami no Matsuei nor Harry Potter belong to me. If they did, I'd be way too rich to bother writing fanfiction. As it is, I'm broke from completing my Christmas shopping, so please don't sue me.  
  
Warnings: Yaoi. Slash. M/m pairings, whatever you want to call them. Het pairing (but it's a cool, screwed up one, I promise!). Generous adjustment of universes to match. Hints of NCS (remembered) later on in the story.   
  
What has happened so far: Watari, Tatsumi, Hisoka and Tsuzuki were assigned to a new case: to stop Lord Voldemort from expanding into Japan. At the party which Narcissa told them to go to, Watari met his half-brother Lucius. They duelled, and Watari came out the definite loser, but was saved by the last minute appearance of the other three.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
~~~~~~  
Watari  
~~~~~~  
  
That night, Watari dreamed... of another night that occurred twenty-two years ago....  
  
  
Watari knelt naked on the cold stone floor. All the outward trappings of dignity had been stripped from him, he was dirty and naked and hurtingohgoddidithurt - but still, there was an aura of serenity about him completely alien to his dank surroundings. It was as though all he had been through had merely revealed the blazing stubbornness at his core. Either that, or it was simply that he knew he had been through everything, and nothing more could be done to him. Even Watari didn't know.  
  
"Crucio!" His body convulsed as agony tore through him once more at Voldemort's whim. He had long ago given up on resisting the pain - now he simply endured it.  
  
He knew it would soon be over.  
  
Suddenly, the curse ended. He was abruptly levitated into the air. From his new vantage point, he could see the Death Eaters surrounding him on all sides. Surrounding him - and Voldemort.  
  
"My followers," came Voldemort's voice, hissing as it crawled its way into its listener's brain, "before you is a man who was once an honoured equal among you. A brilliant researcher and potionsmaster, his concoctions aided us greatly in our fight against those too low even to crawl in the dirt before the lowliest of us. But now, look at him! This once-honoured wizard betrayed me - betrayed us all - and for Muggles! Three years ago, when I honoured him with a mission that, had he not betrayed us all, would have shortened our fight against the Muggles by years, he abandoned our cause, and went to live among Muggles, becoming no better than one of those animals. Worse, because he had the opportunity to be great! It was only by dint of the efforts of Lucius Malfoy, who proved his loyalty to me over the fleeting bonds of blood, that he was returned to our fold three months ago."  
  
Watari listened to Voldemort's speech with one ear, as he idly scanned the assembled ranks of Voldemort's loyal Death Eaters. All of them were utterly focused on Lord Voldemort, projecting agreement so vehemently that Watari couldn't resist a tiny, almost unnoticeable smirk. They were so relieved that it wasn't them in the middle, facing Lord Voldemort's displeasure, that they were agreeing just as hard as they possibly could. All but one.  
  
Watari's eyes met those of Severus Snape's. He could see in his old rival's eyes a look of horror - a realization that yes, death affected everyone, even those you love. Watari continued looking at him, seeing him come to some sort of decision. What it was, Watari couldn't guess.  
  
He was distracted by Voldemort beginning to wind up his speech.  
  
"And here before you, now, we will show you what happens to those who betray us. Lucius, step forward."  
  
Watari saw the masked figure of his brother step forward from the assembled ranks of the Death Eaters. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what was going to happen.  
  
"From my followers, I require a loyalty surpassing the bonds of friendship or family. Lucius, kill your traitorous brother before us all, now, to give your fellow followers an example of how they should behave."  
  
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius murmured obediently. Turning towards his still convulsing brother, he raised his wand.  
  
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"  
  
And there was green, and then nothing.  
  
  
  
"Watari-san? Watari-san!" He could feel someone shaking his shoulders gently. His eyes blinked open, but quickly closed again as the light hit them.  
  
"What," he grumped, concealing his relief. He hated that nightmare.   
  
'...Waitasec who woke me up?' he suddenly thought, eyes snapping open.   
  
He suppressed a blush at the sight of Tatsumi sitting in a chair next to his bed. He couldn't decide if having his long-term crush wake him was a good or bad thing. On the plus side, Tatsumi cared for him. On the minus side, he knew Tatsumi was still too obsessed with Tsuzuki to ever consider anyone else. He dismissed his idle thoughts as Tatsumi spoke.  
  
"Are you okay?" Tatsumi asked. "You seemed to be having a nightmare."  
  
"Yeah, sure," Watari answered evasively. "What are you doing in here anyways?"  
  
"After you were injured yesterday, I didn't want to leave you on your own in case there were unforseen results from your injuries," Tatsumi responded calmly.   
  
"Please don't tell me you slept in that chair," Watari said, focusing on the most innocuous thing he could think of. "That's the worse chair in the lab to sleep in."  
  
"It was fine." Tatsumi got up carefully and stretched. Watari watched with interest. "I'll go make some tea, and then we can talk about what happaned last night."  
  
Watari winced. 'Damnit.' "Oh, sure," he said unconvincingly.  
  
"I'll be back in ten minutes."  
  
For a moment, Watari lay there, contemplating various escape routes, before getting up reluctantly. 003 chirped indignantly at him as her perch was disturbed. Watari scratched her head in apology.   
  
He quickly grabbed a change of clothes from his closet and changed, feeling relief at getting out of the remnants of the tuxedo he had been wearing for well over twelve hours now. He quickly brushed his hair, but before he could braid it, Tatsumi walked back into the lab.  
  
~~~~~~  
Tatsumi  
~~~~~~  
  
Once out of the lab, Tatsumi quickly made some tea in the break room. He had been up all night, watching over Watari with worry, and felt in desperate need of some. As the tea finished, he quickly drained a cup to wake himself up, then poured himself and Watari a cup apiece before returning to the lab.  
  
"Watari-san?" he said, not knowing if Watari was decent or not.  
  
Watari came out from his bedroom, his hair still loose, and 003 happily nestling in it. Tatsumi felt the sight of the scientist hit him almost like a physical punch in the gut. He had never seen him with his hair loose like that, and had to sternly discipline himself not to touch it. It looked so soft...  
  
"Oh, goody, tea!" Watari chirped, taking the cup that Tatsumi handed him gratefully. He drank half of it on the first sip, and looked almost human again.  
  
Tatsumi winced mentally. Poor phrasing, that.  
  
He sat down carefully on one of the chairs in the lab, gesturing for Watari to do the same. Watari did so slowly, obviously feeling every single leftover ache from last night.  
  
Watari fiddled absently with his hair a moment as he decided where to begin. "Well, as you may or may not have figured out, that guy last night was my brother. He's also Voldemort's second in command."  
  
He would have continued, but he was paused by a coughing noise as Tatsumi choked on his tea. Since when did Watari have family affiliations with foreign evil wizards? Watari helpfully pounded on his back as he recovered. "You okay?"  
  
"Yes, thank you. I was merely taken by surprise." Tatsumi arched an eyebrow at Watari, inviting further explanation. He wanted more information - now.  
  
"He attacked me last night partially on personal grounds, and partially because he's here to start Voldemort's power base in Japan. He admitted as much to me last night."  
  
"I see," Tatsumi said briefly, not really knowing how to react to that. "Are you alright?" He looked at Watari with concern over his glasses. Both of them knew just how many shinigami freaked out when they had to deal with a mission that involved something from their life. Hisoka was hardly the only one.   
  
"Of course!" Watari was ignoring the way he had been acting since they had gotten the assignment. Tatsumi realized that it was going to take some effort to get him to reveal anything much about Lucius and his past. "There are a couple of problems with Lucius discovering about shinigami, though..." He trailed off, frowning.  
  
"What?" asked Tatsumi alertly.   
  
"Well, actually I'm thinking more about Voldemort's reaction when he finds out. You see, Voldemort has an obsession with immortality, and has ever since he killed his father. Everything he does reflects it. Even his name translates to flight of death! And his followers are called Death Eaters, and his symbol is a skull with a snake sticking out of its mouth... With a guy that obsessed with immortality, I don't know how he'll react to shinigami! It was really stupid of me to tell Narcissa in the first place."  
  
"Do you expect it to become an immediate problem?" Tatsumi asked, frowning thoughtfully.   
  
"Not yet, but I think it means that he has a chance of becoming a repeating problem."  
  
"I see," Tatsumi pushed his glasses up thoughtfully. He hadn't seen the scientist affected with self-doubt before, but knew reassurance was important anyways. "I really don't think that it was your fault though. Narcissa-san knew something was wrong. From my impression of her, she would have found out everything eventually anyways. All you did was give her specifics."  
  
Watari frowned. "Yes, I suppose." Tatsumi could tell that he didn't really believe him, but Watari continued before Tatsumi could say anything. "Moving on, I think the best thing might be to," he paused, tried to phrase it diplomatically, "stop Lucius before he reports."  
  
Tatsumi was shocked. "Kill your brother?"  
  
Watari laughed drily. "Believe me, if Lucius were dead, I would probably sleep a great deal better." He closed his mouth with a snap. Tatsumi looked at him, and wondered.  
  
"Why?" said Tatsumi carefully. Very carefully.  
  
"He killed me." Watari said this flatly, without any hint of expression on his face. He did not continue. 003 started nibbling on his hair in concern.  
  
Tatsumi looked at him a moment, debating the wisdom of pushing Watari further on this. Eventually, he decided that Watari wasn't going to answer him no matter what he said. Tatsumi desperately needed reinforcement. "I think I see," was all Tatsumi said.  
  
"Yes, well, the problem there is fairly obvious. None of you have any experience fighting Western magic, and I, as has already been rather forcibly demonstrated, am out of practice. I used to be about equal with him, but now..." Watari was that good with magic?! Tatsumi desperately needed to research his coworker's past before he tried to pry any further. He decided to go on with business.  
  
"Who do you think would be best to send against him?"   
  
Watari absentmindedly retrieved 003 from chewing up the rest of his hair as he considered. "Honestly, I'd say probably you and me. I could counter his magic, since I'm the only one familiar with this type of magic, and you could use your shadows to fight him. Give me a couple hours on the computer, and I'll be able to find out where he's staying."  
  
'And if he even tried to harm Watari again, I will kill him,' thought Tatsumi, the fierceness of the thought surprising him. Since when had he come to care that much about Watari? For that matter, when had he dropped the honourific, if only mentally? But visibly, he only nodded. "And Narcissa-san and Draco-san?"  
  
"Draco?" Watari couldn't remember... "Oh! Lucius' son! He's here?"   
  
"Oh, yes, you didn't encounter him." Tatsumi gave Watari a verbal sketch of the odd encounter with Draco.   
  
"Hmm... That kid's playing an interesting game... I think I'd like to talk to him, but I don't believe that he'll be any real problem." Tatsumi wondered what on earth Watari was thinking of, with that tiny thoughtful frown etched onto his forehead. "But Narcissa could pose a problem..." Watari continued, frowning. He didn't really want to kill her though. "I don't really know for sure if she's a Death Eater or not..."  
  
"Why don't we send Tsuzuki and Hisoka to spy on her to see if she's a danger?" Tatsumi suggested.  
  
Watari thought for a moment, and nodded. "Yes, that would work." He stood up, signalling an end to the conversation before Tatsumi had a chance to pry for information. "Well, I'm going to get started on trying to find Lucius' whereabouts. The sooner the better you know!" He gave Tatsumi a cheerful grin. "Time is money, after all!" He concluded in a mimicry of Tatsumi.  
  
With that, Watari disappeared into his computer room, and Tatsumi was left alone at the cramped lab table so recently enlivened by Watari's company. With a silent sigh, he got up... and went to find Tsuzuki.  
  
  
  
Back in the hotel room on Earth, Tsuzuki blinks innocent amethyst eyes at Tatsumi. "You want me to what?"  
  
Tatsumi sighed. "Talk to Watari-san. Find out whatever he's willing to tell you about his brother. You're the most likely person to succeed in getting Watari to talk to someone."  
  
Hisoka, standing quietly at the window, interjected, "You and Watari get along well, anyways. Why are you objecting?"   
  
Tsuzuki protested vehemently, "I'm not protesting! I'm just surprised!"  
  
"So you'll do it?" Tatsumi asked calmly. He supposed he could have blackmailed Tsuzuki with his debts, but it didn't feel quite right for this sort of thing. Besides, Tsuzuki got enough of that with the Earl.   
  
"Of course!" said Tsuzuki.   
  
"Wonderful." Suddenly, with the removal of his responsibilities, Tatsumi realized that he was exhausted. "I'll be going to bed now. Goodnight."   
  
With that, Tatsumi left the room, and headed to bed. He went to sleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Notes: Okay, this was the chapter from hell to write. I wrote three bloody versions of Watari and Tatsumi's conversation before I did one I halfway liked. I never do more than one draft usually. That sucks. I was going to have Watari and Tatsumi get together at some point during this chapter, but everything I tried came out sounding really awkward. After spending a couple days on that alone, I gave up and rewrote the chapter. I think those two are only going to get together under far more extreme circumstances than this. Therefore, I now have a new plan for getting those two together. I've also been going over my mental outline of the story, and it's going to be a great deal more complicated and long than I originally thought. Hopefully, I'll retain interest long enough to get through it.  
  
For those of you who think this chapter sucks... deal with it. I hate this chapter, but I'm seriously sick of rewriting it, and this is the best it's going to get. Sorry. I promise to do better with the next chapter. And thank you, Kafers, for agreeing to beta-read for me.  
  
Draconsis: Thanks. All authors need ego-stroking on a regualr basis. Especially since I have a tendency to delete half my stories in a fit of irritation. (Sad, but true.)  
Clea: Please don't associate getting hit with a flying object with reviewing me. Then I'd NEVER get any reviews. :( And I'm afraid the whole 'fast updater' thing isn't going to be consistent. But I will try.  
Ms.Author: Now, would I ever do that to my sweet, charming Lucius? (The answer here is, of course, yes.)  
free4ever: :) Only the end. I'll explain the rest of it later... maybe.  
  
In the next chapter: Tsuzuki talks with Watari. Watari talks with Draco. And other things happen, which I haven't wuite figured out which of them I'm going to include. 


End file.
